Message from Academy Chair
Professor Charlotte Macdonald shares her foreword as Chair of the Academy Executive Committee.
March Poutū-te-rangi 2022
Tēnā koutou katoa,
We are looking forward to seeing you at Ngā Ahurei Hou New Fellows’ Day on 28 April Pāenga-whāwhā, whether in person or on Zoom. This event is a highlight to celebrate in the year.
We are delighted to be welcoming 23 new Fellows, Ngā Ahurei, to the Royal Society Te Apārangi Academy in the 2021 round. Our new Fellows bring excellence and outstanding research from a wide range of subjects.
Ngā Ahurei Hou New Fellows’ Day will include the important ceremonies in which each Fellow will enter the Academy by way of signing the Fellows Book, where the first entry dates back to 1870, and receiving their Fellowship pin. We will then have an opportunity to hear each of the Fellows speak about their area of research.
In the afternoon we will continue the day with the annual Fellows’ Forum. An important item we have placed on the agenda for the Forum is a discussion under the heading ‘Strength and Diversity in the Academy Ngā Ahurei’. The last few months have seen some difficult conversations taking place around the nature and status of research and researchers in Aotearoa New Zealand. These issues matter to us all.
Ensuring the strength, breadth and vigour of research communities across Aotearoa New Zealand is a priority for the Academy. The consideration at the Forum will feature several short presentations followed by time for discussion. We invite you to participate with respectful dialogue and manaakitanga.
These are not easy times for meetings and exchanges. The world is fractious and we are not meeting in all the usual ways we would have once expected to do. As scholars and colleagues, let’s meet together in good spirit.
Our Medals and Awards ceremonies were not able to be staged in either November 2021 or Feburary 2022 due to covid settings. This is a matter of great regret. Recipients have been presented with their Awards and Medals and we have our fingers crossed for the 2022 round.
The AEC is currently finalising a submission to the Green Paper Te Ara Paerangi Future Pathways, a comprehensive discussion document on the future of the Research, Science and Innovation sector.
A reminder also, that the work of the Academy appears as part of the annual review of Royal Society Te Apārangi, and the minutes of the last Forum can be found here.
Charlotte Macdonald FRSNZ
Chair, Academy Executive Committee